Definitely is not a technical constraint (anymore), is about the UX and displaying other piece of information (like ads, help and documentation).
In the VSCode example you could dynamically replace the Download buttons with the correct link, the same way as the download starts after the intermediate page is visited. But by doing an intermediate page you solve more problems with 1 solution:
instant feedback - you press a button a new page opens (if the connection is slow a download is starting will not be instant)
page space - you now have a special dedicate page where you can put relevant information (like documentation, how to save the file, how to install) specific for that download file (platform, version)
automatic download (you can't do that on the main page, you do not know what version and platform the user wants to download
the users are now used to this behavior
all the other responses (unique url ..)
Back in the days solved a few tech issues (no one page apps), page views and ads were important.
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Definitely is not a technical constraint (anymore), is about the UX and displaying other piece of information (like ads, help and documentation).
In the VSCode example you could dynamically replace the Download buttons with the correct link, the same way as the download starts after the intermediate page is visited. But by doing an intermediate page you solve more problems with 1 solution:
Back in the days solved a few tech issues (no one page apps), page views and ads were important.